Sunday, September 30, 2012

:/

My kids went back to their foster home earlier today.


I miss them.


I hope this all goes fast.

Friday, September 28, 2012

That was fast.

-my husband picked up the kids at 6:30 pm

-he & the kids picked up pizza

-they came home

-we showed them their rooms and beds (they were very excited)

-they played with toys

-they colored

-they ate

-they jumped on our living room furniture (a lot - my oldest bio led the way on that)

-they watched TV

-they snacked

-they brushed their teeth

-they ALL put on their bathing suits and playing in the tub for at least an hour making a huge soapy mess and ruining our soap

-they put on their PJs

-they snacked

-they watched tv and played dress up

-they raced down the stairs in their dress up clothes

- 10 pm (yes, THAT late) I told them it was time for bed

-they got drinks and went to the bathroom

-I read them a story (hubby read the boys a story, I read the girls a story)

-they crashed in no time flat  (except Lizzy who was very over stimulated and even she settled down within minutes)


Wish me luck with day two, all this was crammed into only THREE hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(We had a lot of fun by the way :) )

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Count down.

They are coming.

Tomorrow.

I know it's just for the weekend, but I am nervous!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Over night.

This Friday we will have our first over night with our kids.  We are having them over Friday night and Saturday night.  I am so excited and nervous.  I know we will have fun during the day, but I am a little worried about bedtime.

That is when all the emotions come out.

I think they will be ok, everything usually goes better than expected.


In other news, my second foster child who was adopted by a very nice family...well, his mom wants me to take family portraits for them.  This would be the 1st time since the day he left my house that I have seen him in person.  After he moved out I talked to him on the phone once and since then I talk to his mom on a semi regular basis, but this is in person.


I have always thought that he has RAD and I am freaking out about what seeing me might trigger.  I just don't want them to have a super bad week just because he sees me.


I don't want him to worry that he might be moving.  I don't want to bring up the bad stuff that brought him to our house.  I just don't want it to turn into a bad thing.


I hope it happens though.


I would love to see him.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

8 seats.

Today we picked up one of these...because I guess we needed it for the 6 kids we are going to have.

Wow is this crazy :)

Friday, September 21, 2012

Life.

Things are busy around here and there is a lot going on, but it all just seems normal.  My oldest is playing football and loves it.  His team is not very good, but he is doing great.

My baby is trying so hard to crawl.  She can get around, but isn't technically crawling yet.  She is 6 months old and a stinker, that is how we make them around here.  Her brown hair has turned almost red and she has the fiery temper to go with it.  For the most part she only wants me, but likes her dad, brother and sister.  She would prefer everyone else to just smile at her while one of us hold her.  She has her bottom two teeth and kept her pretty blue eyes.

Lizzy has been doing good.  She is saying all kinds of new words every day and uses them in the funniest sentences.  She is starting to act more like a 4 year old than a three year old, besides her biting a child at church the other day.  She will turn 4 in December.

Our other son lost his front two teeth last week and is being annoying in his class at school.  Awesome. :). Apparently he was chirping like a bird.  He will make life interesting around here I am sure.

The girls have been doing good.  Just being themselves I suppose.


We are going to see them Sunday again.  We are spending the night at a hotel on Saturday night after my work engagement that is out by where they live.  We are going to swim in the pool and then take them out to lunch.  Hopefully next weekend they will be coming to our house.  That should be interesting!


All is well, as is busy...I guess we better just get used to that!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Winner!



The winner is Raina H. from Texas!

Congrats!!!

I will be putting this in the mail to you early next week.



Thanks everyone for everything!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Day!

I am so excited!  Today is the 20th which means my fund raiser ends TODAY!!!  I am so excited about the money that will be going to this family and am equally excited to be done asking for money.  :)

I don't think anyone "likes" fund raising, but, for me, it kind comes down to the fact that I am willing to "beg" for money if it is for such a great cause.  People who adopt kids with extreme physical needs deserve help.  They shouldn't have to beg for it or go without.  These people are my heroes and it is the least we all can do to chip in some money to help for these kids who are no longer orphans BUT started out that way.

Anway, I will choose a winner today at 5 pm so if you want to chip in click on the link above to check it out before then.


Thank you to everyone who gave.

Thank you to everyone who shared it.

Thank you to everyone who bought books.


You all are awesome.


Also, Jess over at fosteringinthedeepend.blogspot.com has added a foster parent forum to her blog so that foster parents can connect over there and she would love for you to drop by and check it out!



Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Price.

Cubbie Vest:  $10

Cubbie Book:  $9

Being the parent of the kid who bit another kids at Cuibbies tonight:  Priceless


Oh Lizzy.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Our new three.

We had another visit with our new kids this past weekend. Ordinarily by now we would be having them over to our house to visit and even spend the night, but I had two prior work engagements that have made that a little too hard. So, because we feel that remaining consistent is so important, we have been having a visit with them every week close to where they live (an hour away from us).

This week we spent 2 hours with the kids at a McDonalds play place. Every time we are together things get easier. I don't worry "Are they not going to want to come with us today?" or "Will we be able to handle all six of our kids?" It just works. I think if the kids were any younger is wouldn't work. I still laugh about doing everything we said we never would.

Adopting out of birth order - check

Adopted a child with family history of mental illness - check (not our newest three)

Life usually doesn't go how we plan it, we might as well get on board with not being able to control it or fit it into some neat little box.

At this visit we talked with the oldest two about them moving in with us and us becoming their parents. Their foster mom suggested this and obviously it was getting time to do this. When we asked them what they thought about all that they excitedly said "Yes!" they wanted to move in with us and for us to be their parents. When my husband asked the oldest girl "Do you know why we want to be your parents" she immediately said "Because you love us!"

We both almost cried.

The kids are young enough that I am sure they don't fully understand all this and, perhaps, in a way maybe they understand it all too well. Either way, we have done this before. We have taken beautiful little strangers into our home and we have become a family. It isn't easy and it takes time. It has taken us every bit of the time we have had with Lizzy to make her a part of our family and I am banking on it taking a while for us all to feel like a family when our new little ones move in. But, despite the normal issues, I actually am hopeful that things may go better than expected. God has planned this out so perfectly and maybe we are finally the kind of adoptive parents that are "ready" for the healing to begin.

We shall see.

Monday, September 17, 2012

"I will carry you" by Angie Smith

Bare with me until September 20th. I am not a huge fan of fun raising and all that, but I want to do the best I can until this thing is over so that I know I did all I could :)

With that being said, have you ever heard of Angie Smith? She is the wife of one of the members of the singing group Selah.
I started to follow her blog when she had just found out that her 4th daughter was not going to be "compatible with life". Reading the words from her blog while she processed this and after she had the baby...it was truly something that changes you.

After she had the baby she wrote this book. This book is about a mom who had a baby that went to heaven before she did, but for me, it was such a mirror to what I was going through knowing that my first daughter would be taken from me and placed back in a less than ideal situation.

I know it is not the same, but the emotions that she describes...I have felt them. I don't know if it is at the same level, but I have grieved a daughter.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, I have ONE copy of this book that is like new. It will go straight from my house to yours for $12 with FREE shipping.


The money will be going to the fundraiser.



Sunday, September 16, 2012

Small Town, BIG MIRACLE



Have you seen this book?


Or heard about this town?


I found this book around 3 or 4 years ago while we were waiting to become a licensed foster home. (At this point I feel like we have always been a foster family!) Anyway, in this book Bishop Martin tells the story of the REAL LIFE town of Possum Trot, Texas, and about his family, his church and his community adopting 72 children out of the US foster care system.

It. Is. Awesome.

After becoming a foster parent and a mom to a child I didn't give birth to, I love this book even more. This book is simply written, it is a very easy read, but he is telling the truth of what fostering and ultimately adopting is like. The good, the bad. The joy and the sadness. And he talks about the miracles you will see when you step out and do THIS.

Recently I saw two of my friends post about this story on Facebook and I noticed that no one seems to know there is a book that contains the details of this towns story so I thought I would highlight is here AND give you a chance to get your hands on this book.

I will be selling used copies of this book for $10 ea. with FREE shipping!!! All proceeds of this will go to the family that I have been raising money for. All you have to do is click the button below to get your copy of this great encouraging story!!!!

Also, if you want to read a bit about the people the book is about you can do that here.











Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Let's keep this going (ways to win!)

You guys have been so great! Thank you to everyone who entered/donated!

Want to have your name entered (again or for the first time) without donating any money?

SHARE THIS ( http://mamafoster.blogspot.com/2012/09/please.html ) ON YOUR BLOG AND YOUR NAME WILL GO IN THE POT TWICE!!! Just leave a comment on THIS post letting me know you did.

OH, one more thing. Share this ( http://mamafoster.blogspot.com/2012/09/please.html )
on your facebook page and get your name thrown in THREE more times!!!

Just leave a comment on this post letting me know you did that as well.

You guys have been great, lets see if there is anyone else who like to donate :)

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Did you see this?

For the Monday morning crowd:




I want to look at these little faces:

These little sweeties have been adopted by a great couple. I will post a link to their story at the end of the post. You may notice that that gorgeous little girl in the middle has no arms and no legs. She melts my heart. Her little face is the reason I am hosting this give a way.

Anyway, to make a long story short, their family needs a wheelchair accessible van. One of their friends is trying to raise $15,000 by October 15th for them. I don't know if I will be able to help much, but I will do what I can. First, I already made a small donation to them myself. Secondly, I am giving away this gorgeous necklace that I just bought from another mama who is currently picking up her newly adopted little boy from Taiwan.

I really love this necklace, but I am happy to give it away in hopes it gets these kids closer to a van that fits their needs. It is a small token on my end.

Imagine if many of us just did something small...anyway.

This is the necklace:


How do you enter this give a way?


See the Donate Button below? Click it, donate at least $2 (you choose the amount, enter the amount and hit update) and you will be entered to win the necklace. For every $2 you donate your name will go in the pot 1 time. So if you donate $10 your name will go in 5 times.










I hope you guys don't mind me doing this. I JUST heard about this tonight and I felt the urge to do this. Our family is so excited to adopt our 3 new kiddos, but we have yet to adopt children that have needs that are like these kids. Special needs children have been on my heart more and more each day, and while I am not in the place to adopt a child with these type of needs yet, I do feel very compelled to help those that currently are.

Seriously, what is $2 anyway? But, when your $2 meets my $2...well, God is very good at multiplying.

This give a way will end September 20th. Good luck!!!! Please feel free to share this on your blog, that would be one really easy way to help!!!


Four of Six.

We went to see our kids yesterday. I put together a scavenger hunt list of things for them to find on our walk to dinner. Here we are stealing flowers from the bank that was thankfully closed :)

When I look at this picture all I can think is "There are four kids in this picture...and that isn't ALL of them!"

I am still adjusting to the thought of being a mama to six. There is no book that really prepares you for this.




Take a look below at the give a way/fund raiser I am hosting!!! It is well worth it!!!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Please.

I want you to look at these faces:
These little sweeties have been adopted by a great couple. I will post a link to their story at the end of the post. You may notice that that gorgeous little girl in the middle has no arms and no legs. She melts my heart. Her little face is the reason I am hosting this give a way.

Anyway, to make a long story short, their family needs a wheelchair accessible van. One of their friends is trying to raise $15,000 by October 15th for them. I don't know if I will be able to help much, but I will do what I can. First, I already made a small donation to them myself. Secondly, I am giving away this gorgeous necklace that I just bought from another mama who is currently picking up her newly adopted little boy from Taiwan.

I really love this necklace, but I am happy to give it away in hopes it gets these kids closer to a van that fits their needs. It is a small token on my end.

Imagine if many of us just did something small...anyway.

This is the necklace:


How do you enter this give a way?


See the Donate Button below? Click it, donate at least $2 (you choose the amount, enter the amount and hit update) and you will be entered to win the necklace. For every $2 you donate your name will go in the pot 1 time. So if you donate $10 your name will go in 5 times.










I hope you guys don't mind me doing this. I JUST heard about this tonight and I felt the urge to do this. Our family is so excited to adopt our 3 new kiddos, but we have yet to adopt children that have needs that are like these kids. Special needs children have been on my heart more and more each day, and while I am not in the place to adopt a child with these type of needs yet, I do feel very compelled to help those that currently are.

Seriously, what is $2 anyway? But, when your $2 meets my $2...well, God is very good at multiplying.

This give a way will end September 20th. Good luck!!!! Please feel free to share this on your blog, that would be one really easy way to help!!!


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Days.

As the days tick by I can tell I am a different person than I was when I started all of this.

I want my kids home, as fast as possible.

But, I also know, that each day my sweet youngest child will only be a baby once. I will only get these easy days for a bit longer. She will only nurse for a few more months. I will only be able to cuddle her when she naps as often as I do now for a while longer.

So, while the waiting is hard, the reality is that I might as well enjoy this time too, because it will be gone all too soon, in a good way.


And, while I enjoy my littlest, I have a little first grader who is going to loose his first tooth any minute and I am not there for it. He started his first day of 1st grade and I wasn't there for it. I have a sweet four year old daughter whose hair I didn't get to do today. And a two year old who I didn't get to cuddle today.


This is life while I wait, it isn't bad, but it will be better when we are all together.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Visits.

We saw our new babies again today.

It was wonderful.

They are normal kids with faults just like the rest of us.

We are so excited for the day they come home.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

#1

The number one thing they SHOULD tell you in "foster care class" that they DON'T is that your foster child that you spend months falling in love with might be returned to the exact same crap they were taken out of.

Seriously.

This is reality.

Now, there are a few good changes in Sabrina's life. If nothing else, there are more healthy people that are active in her life since coming into foster care. I also believe that there is more than just that, but that isn't what this post is about.


Some families have to "worry" about where their next meal is coming from. Some are hard working wonderful families and some are lazy, cigarette smoking, occasional drug using families.

Money will always be an issue in Sabrina's house. They are the type of people that you could give a million dollars to and in 6 months it would be gone. Wasted. With only stupid stuff to show for it and no money to take care of the basics.


I believe when Sabrina says, "We have no food" she means "We have barely any food in the house and mom and grandma have been talking about how many days it will be until their food stamps card will be filled. They have probably been talking about going to a church to get donated food and when I ask if I can have something to eat I don't like any of the options."

Her mom had $9 on her when we picked her up. That is enough to buy food for a day or two. She spent $2 on starburst while we were out. We paid for everything else.

Mom heard Sabrina say this to me and said, "Yeah, we have to go grocery shopping. Grandma might be doing that right now."

For the most part I believe that. It's friday, some source of money probably came in. I am sure Sabrina was talking about what had gone on earlier this week.

Sabrina's mom has started getting child support again. It was off for a LONG time. Grandma drives school buses for a job and was off all summer. I am sure she doesn't budget for the summer's off.


This is their life.


I wish Sabrina lived in a house where food was NEVER an issue...but, it is. And it isn't the end of the world. If I EVER thought she was truly going without you KNOW I would drive down there and fill their cupboards and fridge for them.


I just hope if it ever gets that bad I know about it.